LEARN MORE ABOUTÂ HERÂ STORY
About Marcia D Williams
Most supply chain professionals feel invisible—stuck firefighting with messy data while the real decisions happen in rooms they're never invited to. Marcia knows that pain firsthand because she lived it.
After earning her accounting degree in Uruguay, she headed north to Michigan State University, where she discovered supply chain planning during her MBA. It was 2003, and snow wasn't the only new experience—she found her calling: turning complex supply-chain chaos into clear, compelling stories that executives actually understand and act on.
Over 18 years, Marcia built her expertise in the trenches at companies like Alcoa, Cummins, Lindt Chocolates, Hershey, and Coty. She led a global bidding event that saved Alcoa $1.4 million. She managed $165 million in annual spend at Cummins. She helped Hershey automate complex procurement processes with tools teams loved using. But the bigger transformation happened when she realized most planners were brilliant—yet still treated like tactical order-takers instead of strategic advisors.
That's when she founded USM Supply Chain and later, the Supply Chain Planning Circle—a home base for S&OP professionals ready to be heard.
WHY FORTUNE 500 BRANDS TRUST HER
Marcia is recognized worldwide as the go-to visual storyteller for S&OP leaders who want to elevate their impact. Her work bridges finance and operations, turning raw data into visual narratives that drive EBITDA growth, revenue increases, and improved cash flows for fast-growing CPG companies. Â
Her accomplishments include:
✓  Author and educator who created the CLEAR Method™—a proven framework that helps supply chain planners clarify complex data, present with confidence, and position themselves as strategic voices leadership trusts
✓  Trusted advisor to Fortune 500 brands including Alcoa, Cummins, Lindt Chocolates, Hershey, Coty, Bazooka, and Unilever delivering measurable operational and financial results
âś“Â Â TEDx speaker and Forbes contributor
THE STORYÂ OFÂ MARCIA'S INFOGRAPHICS
The infographics didn't start as a business strategy. They started as frustration.
Marcia was working with a client team drowning in 50-slide PowerPoint decks filled with jargon, tiny fonts, and charts nobody understood. Executives glazed over. Decisions stalled. Impact? Zero.
So she did something different. She stripped away the clutter and rebuilt the story visually—one page, clear icons, simple language, and a narrative anyone could grasp in 30 seconds. The result? The executive team finally got it. Decisions happened. The business moved forward.
That single moment sparked thousands more. Marcia began creating infographics on everything from demand forecasting techniques to inventory parameters, S&OP implementation roadmaps to Excel functions planners actually use. Each one designed with the same mission: make the complex clear, make the invisible visible, and give planners the tools to be heard.
Today, her infographics reach over 90,000 supply chain professionals on LinkedIn and beyond—empowering planners to present their work with clarity and confidence.
NEW ERA FOR S&OP PROFESSIONALS
For too long, S&OP has been treated as "the supply chain thing"—a functional silo disconnected from finance, strategy, and executive decision-making. Planners worked hard but stayed invisible. Their insights went unheard. Their impact went unrecognized.
That era is ending.
The supply chain disruptions of recent years proved what Marcia has been saying all along: planning is strategic, not tactical. Companies that integrate finance and supply chain through mature S&OP and IBP (Integrated Business Planning) see results—6% EBITDA increases, 25% inventory reductions, and millions in cost savings.
But transformation doesn't happen with better software alone. It happens when planners learn to communicate like strategists, present insights executives trust, and position themselves as the voices leadership turns to when decisions matter.
The Supply Chain Planning Circle exists to make that shift possible—turning invisible doers into trusted strategic voices, one planner at a time.
What Is S&OP Visual Storytelling?
How S&OP Visual Storytelling Can Help Your Career
